Russia will shortly resume charter flights to Turkey — watchdog

Russia’s cabinet of ministers is addressing the issue of resuming charter flights to Turkey, Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism Oleg Safonov said in an interview aired by the Rossiya-24 TV news channel Friday, adding that flights may be resumed shortly. "The government is addressing the issue. I think charter flights will be resumed in the foreseeable future," he said. Safonov does not expect many Russians to fly to Turkey this year as "travel packages are only being prepared by tour operators now and there are no estimates yet in place," he said, adding that the security issue has to be of the highest priority for travelers as Turkey saw 256 terrorist acts carried out in the country last year. On June 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin cancelled the ban on charter flights between the Russian Federation and the Turkish Republic by signing the amendments to the decree "On measures to ensure the national security of the Russian Federation and protection of citizens of the Russian Federation from criminal and other illegal actions and on the use of special economic measures against the Turkish Republic." The decree on sanctions against Turkey, amended by the Russian head of state, was signed November 28, 2015. Starting January 1, 2016 Russia suspended the visa-free regime for Turkish nationals.